The first utility benchmarking exercise in the Danube Hub, which started as a pilot in late 2017, concluded in May 2018 with 18 participating utilities from 9 countries (Albania - 3 utilities; Bosnia and Herzegovina - 5 utilities; Croatia - 1 utility; Hungary - 1 utility; Kosovo - 2 utilities; Macedonia - 2 utilities; Montenegro - 1 utility; Romania - 1 utility; and Serbia - 2 utilities). The Danube Hub 2018 exercise included the development of utility benchmarking reports and the organization of the 1st Danube Hub benchmarking workshop on March 22-23 in Montenegro in a World Water Day event, which was organized by an IAWD member, the Regional Water Company of Montenegro Coastal Area in the winter resort of Zabljak and in the coastal city of Tivat.

The full report about the event is available here. As a conclusion to the exercise, a CEO dinner for Danube Hub utilities was held in the context of the Danube Water Conference in Vienna on May 4, 2018.

It is expected that vast majority of these utilities will continue to participate in the Danube Hub exercise for 2019, but also that a number of new utilities from all 17 countries of the Danube region will join the Danube Hub from mid-2018 until early 2019, when the 2nd Danube Hub benchmarking workshop will take place.